Former APD deputy chief out as Carbondale chief

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, August 20, 2014

CARBONDALE — A former deputy chief of the Alton Police Department was fired from his position as Carbondale Police Chief Monday.

Jody O’Guinn, who had been chief of the Carbondale PD since 2009, was dismissed from his employment by Carbondale City Manager Kevin Baity, a release from Baity’s office said. O’Guinn was the deputy chief of police for the APD from 2002 to 2009 and was first joined the APD in 1987. Before assuming the deputy chief position in Alton, O’Guinn was a detective, patrol sergeant and lieutenant.

“Effective Monday, Aug. 18 at 9 a.m., I am dismissing Jody O’Guinn as chief of police for the city of Carbondale. Chief O’Guinn has served the city since June 2009,” Baity said. “As of now, no timeline has been established for finding his successor.”

The Carbondale Police Department has been heavily criticized for its handling of two death investigations. Pravin Varughese, a 19-year-old SIU Carbondale student, went missing in February and was found dead five days later in a forested area along Illinois 13, as reported by the Southern Illinoisan and the Associated Press.

In March of 2012, Molly Young, 21, died from a gunshot wound to the head in an apartment belonging to her ex-boyfriend, Richie Minton who was a Carbondale Police dispatcher at the time. There were never any charges filed, according to the Southern Illinoisan.

Earlier this month the mother of Varughese filed a lawsuit against the city of Carbondale alleging negligence and wanton negligence on the part of O’Guinn. The suit seeks more than $5 million.

“I want to stress that my decision to dismiss Chief O’Guinn is a confidential matter and has nothing to do with the unsolved cases or recent litigation filed against the City and the Chief, Baity said in a release. “Any assumptions/allegations to this effect are completely unfounded.”

After Baity’s announcement of the personnel move, which placed Deputy Chief Jeff Grubbs as the interim police chief in Carbondale, O’Guinn released a lengthy statement of his own to several media outlets including the Telegraph.

“Mr. Baity presented me with a letter of resignation and requested that I sign it. I declined to sign the letter, and Mr. Baity informed me that he was terminating me immediately,” O’Guinn said in the statement. “I was given no statement of reasons for this decision, other than my ‘car wasn’t seen at headquarters enough in the last 30 days’ and that the ‘city needs to move in a different direction.

“I have absolutely no idea what matters Mr. Baity is referring to. To the extent that Mr. Baity’s press release suggests otherwise, I totally and categorically deny that I engaged in any acts that did anything other than reflect my total loyalty to the city of Carbondale while I was serving as its Chief of Police,” O’Guinn continued. “I further state that I engaged in no acts of unethical, unprofessional, or immoral behavior, and to the extent that Mr. Baity’s press release suggests otherwise, I deny the accusation.”

In his statement, O’Guinn said he had not received a performance review from Baity since Baity took the position of city manager. O’Guinn said he received performance reviews by previous city manager Allen Gill annually.

“Communication from his office has been sporadic, at best,” O’Guinn said. “To this date, the only feedback that I received from Mr. Baity about my performance was his terse and confusing statements to me on Aug. 18 and in his subsequent press release.”

O’Guinn also said he was directed by Baity to push all questions on Varughese’s death investigation, Varughese’s mother’s lawsuit and the death investigation of Young to to the office of the city manager.

“Mr. Baity informed me that he would take responsibility for all media activity as to those cases,” O’Guinn said. “Mr. Baity’s regular practice, however, was to offer a ‘no comment.’ In many instances this left the victim’s family and friends as well as many Carbondale citizens frustrated. It appears that a disproportionate amount of this frustration was directed at my office.”

O’Guinn also addressed the greiving families involved in those cases.

“In the case of Molly Young, we immediately referred the incident to the Illinois State Police to ensure an unbiased investigation,” O’Guinn said. “And in the case of Pravin Varughese, Pravin was reported missing 21 hours after he disappeared. The Carbondale Police Department took every possible action to find Pravin as soon as we were notified. I have children of my own, and my heart has broken for the loss of yours.”

The closing of O’Guinn’s statement wished the city of Carbondale well, reiterated that he followed his chain of command and explained his Wednesday release was an effort to preserve his reputation.

“Over my years of service, I have learned that when you receive a command from a superior you obey that command and do your best to implement it, whether you personally agree with or not,” he said. “You do not debate it with others or act in a way that conveys your displeasure with your superior.”

When O’Guinn was hired as chief in 2009, the executives of Carbondale that were part of the search committee cited his community involvement in Alton as a selling point.

Gill said in a released statement in 2009, “one of the impressive things about O’Guinn is his involvement in the community of Alton. He is an assistant scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America and a baseball and soccer coach. O’Guinn received the East-West Gateway Council Emissary to Youth Award for founding the Alton Police Shop-With-A-Cop and Holiday Food Basket programs.”

The 2009 release also cited that O’Guinn helped obtain a federal “Weed and Seed” grant in Alton and also assisted in the design of the $11 million Alton Law Enforcement Center, where he helped assemble the APD’s in-house computer network and web-based crime mapping.

Bob Strickley can be reached at 618-208-6446 or on Twitter @rjstrickleyjr.